My favorite female columnist brings the funk today....

I agree there was too much "I", but it's OK this time because writing is therapy, and it's obvious that Jemele needed this.

Nice column, J. Second one in a row. I'll be back next time.

 

She can do that on her time. Off the clock might be nice, too.

Do you really think the average Page 2 reader -- a young white collegian currently preparing for the Bud Final -- gives a fuck about her travails?

 

I haven’t read a column by Jemele in ages. I was so turned off by her blog about oral sex (not what she wrote, necessarily, but the thought process that convinced her this would be a good career move for a female sports writer. THAT, I did find offensive). After such an unprofessional look-at-me act, I figured I didn’t care much about what she had to say about issues or sports.

But for the last few months Katie Hnida and her “people” have been trying to hook up with female columnists, to get them to promote Katie’s book. While I’m very sympathetic to what happened to her, I declined because I wasn’t sure how I could tell Katie’s story to NY readers when they likely had already heard it from other sources, mostly TV. She has, after all, been on an all-out-blitz to get some publicity. The only way I was tempted to write about Katie’s ordeal was if I were to compare it with other women’s ordeals, or maybe even mine. (Almost all women have “ordeals” guys – ask your sister, mother, girlfriends, daughters).But I decided against writing the column, for many reasons.

I was intrigued to see what Jemele did with it, but nearly stopped after reaching this line -- As I interview her, I am feeling things I don't want to feel – in just the fourth par. That’s already three too many “Is”, and it seems as if it’s heading down a self-obsessed path. But I read on, and begin to like the way the two stories are weaved together, and applaud Jemele for sharing something so personal, and suddenly the same quotes I’ve heard from Katie again and again actually have meaning this time rather than sounding as if they came off a book cover. THIS is how Katie’s story should be told over and over, with different women adding bits of their own ordeals. I don’t know if Jemele had a vision of the column when she began interviewing Katie, or if it struck her once they began talking. But damn, it worked.

My one question: would it have worked in a newspaper? My editor probably wouldn’t cringe if I told him I wanted to write about something terribly personal, but other papers aren’t so open to filling sports pages with tales of rape.

My one observation:Not everybody who criticizes Jemele’s writing chops is jealous, as Whitlock seems to imply. Other females were offered the ESPN job and they turned it down for various reasons. If they were to critique Jemele’s writing, it might be because they want her to improve and grow.

 

look, the over-the-top disrespect for jemele's work is layered, a lot of things motivate folks, including stupidity. if you're not jealous, then read past it, state your opinion and keep on moving. but when people start digging for stuff to criticize her (this column doesn't connect with the average college boy, she talked about oral sex in a blog, she can use I in this column but she shouldn't do it in future columns), it comes off as pure jealousy. is she above criticism? hell no. but just because she swings and misses doesn't mean she should be dismissed. we all swing and miss.

facts: this is a damn fine column; this woman has talent; she's finding her column voice.

i posted it because i'm pissed at the unfair treatment she gets on this board. i wanted to throw the column in her critic's face. that's just me. i like to make predictions, and i like to pimp my predictions. 12 years ago i said greg couch would be one of america's top columnist. he is. he just doesn't get the respect he deserves. when jemele got the job in orlando, i liked her willingness to say sh*t. i see her as a future star, the first female columnist who will mix it up and throw punches like mariotti and show up in the locker room like tj simers. (i also predicted jeff george would be the next dan marino. you win some, you lose some.)

katie hnida's story is old. she's out pimping a book and, in my opinion, exaggerating her ordeal. had jemele chosen to write a straight hnida story, i wouldn't have made it past the first five paragraphs. jemele made hnida's stale story relevant. and there ain't one espn reader who cares about the silly blog joke.

 

"Exaggerating her ordeal" is going to require a longer explanation, I think.

 

i'm not talking about the rape. i'm talking about the seasonlong abuse from the football team. people get hazed on a football team. we had a guy named dwayne brawner who looked like the big dude in full metal jacket and got the same kind of hazing. you wanna be one of the guys, then expect to get treated like one of the guys. football is a sport played best by predators. the weak will be preyed upon. (again, this has nothing to do with the rape. that was date rape and date rape happens outside of football.) i'm not defending football or much of the b.s. that goes on in sports.

 

I hope we don't have to go through this every week now for her columns

.... She nailed it this week

.... not a true jemele

Its bad enough every 7-8 weeks when we see a gary smith

 

Hey, Gary Smith is a damn fine writer, and he's finding his voice.

 

I think Whitlock is Jemele's brother. Last week he turns everyone agaist her by calling her out for "bojangling" and now when they are critical of Jemele, Whitlock comes out swinging. Just like a family.

 

You didn't just predict George would be Marino, he was your Golden Ox for 10 years.

 

Whitlock is a frontman for OPEC. [/badrussianactorsondallas]

 

That one has supply lines that are long and unsustainable.